60s: I have a store

Chapter 407 Waterwheel
In order not to delay the spring ploughing, Village Chief Huang took Huang Jianguo and hurried to Huangjia Village.

Fortunately, I had just had a full meal, otherwise I really wouldn’t be able to run.

Huang Jianguo was still savoring the taste of the meal he had just had: "Village chief, when do you think our village can be like Zhoujiazhuang, where we don't have to worry about food and can eat as much as we want."

He hadn't eaten so full in a long time. Usually, there was not much food at home, so he could only eat water to fill his stomach. It was a pipe dream to want to eat a full stomach.

Village Chief Huang said optimistically: "Jianguo, don't worry, this will happen in the near future! As long as we can survive the next harvest."

Huang Jianguo was filled with passion when he heard this: "Village chief, why are you still standing there? Let's go!"

When Village Chief Huang heard this, he felt that it was a bit of a rebellion, but now was not the time to worry about it. The most urgent thing was to rush back to the village.

After more than two hours, we finally returned to Huangjia Village.

The two of them could be said to be running like sparks and lightning all the way, either brisk walking or jogging, which shortened the three hours to more than two hours.

When I got back to the village, it was already evening, so I called a meeting of the villagers.

When the villagers heard that the village chief was calling a meeting, they all came out to participate.

Because everyone wants to know whether the village chief has bought the seeds.

Village Chief Huang said happily: "Jianguo and I have bought the seeds and we can bring them back tomorrow morning."

The villagers were very excited when they heard the good news.

"Good, good! It seems that God will not destroy our Huangjia Village!" Grandpa Huang said excitedly.

"It won't take too long to ship it back tomorrow."

"There is still time for spring ploughing and we won't be too far behind."

Watching the villagers chatting happily with each other.

However, there is still a problem. Although there are seeds, the food in the village will not last until the next harvest.

But now we can only take it one step at a time.

If it wasn't dark now, Village Chief Huang would probably take his donkey cart and head to Zhoujiazhuang right now.

It’s not safe now because it’s dark, so unless it’s a matter of life and death, we basically won’t go out.

Early the next morning, Village Chief Huang brought a few stronger villagers with him, fearing that the seeds would be stolen.

After arriving at Zhoujiazhuang, Zhou Yimin had already made preparations and placed the seeds in a place in advance.

Pay in one hand and deliver in one hand.

Village chief Huang and his companions happily took the seeds back to the village.

Zhou Yimin saw that the villagers often went to fetch water before dawn, with the shoulder pole on their shoulders and the heavy bucket swaying, and a lot of water spilled.

He was thinking, it would be nice to have a tool that could transport water automatically.

The image of a waterwheel gradually emerged in my mind. It was an ancient irrigation tool that I had seen in history books. It might come in handy after being improved.

You don't have to walk for more than ten minutes to fetch those two buckets of water and water that piece of land.

Now that you have this idea, you should bring it up.

He then found the old branch secretary and told him his idea.

When the old branch secretary heard this, he immediately supported it: "Yimin, this is a good idea! If it can really be made, it will be a great contribution to the village!"

After getting the support of the old branch secretary, Zhou Yimin found two people to help.

The first thing is to go up the mountain to cut trees. It would have been better to use bamboo, but there is not much bamboo on the mountain, so we have to use wood instead.

All the necessary materials will be prepared soon.

Then he cut the wood into thin slices for later use, found some old wood, and hammered around to try to make the frame of the waterwheel. The children in the village seemed very curious, but due to Zhou Yimin's majesty, they dared not come forward.

At this time Lai Fu asked: "Brother, what are you doing?"

Zhou Yimin smiled and said, "Brother, this is a tool that will save the villagers some effort. They won't have to work so hard to carry water anymore."

When Lai Fu heard this, he immediately became excited. You know, children also have to work, and they often carry water, or clean up the place behind adults when they are working.

The hardest part is carrying water. If I don’t have to carry water in the future, “Brother, are you telling the truth?”

Zhou Yimin was a little helpless: "Laifu, why would I lie to you!"

"Brother, you are busy, go play over there!"

After saying this, he drove Lai Fu away.

Lai Fu couldn't help but tell his friends the good news.

Sure enough, the children in the village became extremely happy after hearing what Lai Fu said.

Many people were still surrounding Zhou Yimin.

Finally, Zhou Yimin, who was so annoyed, used his ultimate move: "If you are still here, I will go find your parents."

Sure enough, after he used the ultimate move, all the children who were watching ran away.

The production process was not smooth. The wooden boards always didn't match up and the frame was not stable enough.

Zhou Yimin did not get discouraged. He adjusted his movements repeatedly. When his finger was cut, he simply bandaged it and continued working.

He was not like the stars of later generations, who would cry so hard that the viewers would feel sad and the listeners would shed tears just because they were slightly scratched.

We have to go to the hospital with great fanfare. If we don't act quickly, the wound will probably have healed by the time we get to the hospital.

Finally, the prototype of a simple waterwheel was created.

Then a wooden barrel is tied to the waterwheel blades, and the impact force of the water is used to drive the waterwheel to rotate. The wooden barrel can scoop up the water and flow it along the trough into the village reservoir.

In the first test, the water flow was too fast, the waterwheel was shaking, and a lot of water was spilled. Zhou Yimin frowned, observed carefully, reinforced the supporting structure of the waterwheel, and adjusted the angle of the bamboo tube.

The second test went much better. Although the water did not flow into the reservoir exactly as expected, there was already a clear effect.

Zhou Yimin scratched his head and fell into deep thought. What did he do wrong?
"Uncle Sixteen, what should we do next?" Zhou Daming asked bravely.

He was afraid that his questioning would interrupt Zhou Yimin's train of thought, and that would be troublesome if the old branch secretary blamed him.

The news spread in the village, and they were all very curious whether Zhou Yimin could make it successful. If he succeeded, it would definitely be a good thing.

Even if it fails, there will be no damage. Just do it the same way.

But I still hope that Zhou Yimin can succeed, which will be of great convenience to the villagers.

Zhou Yimin didn't care about these things and devoted himself to improving the waterwheel. He asked the old carpenter in the village for advice on how to strengthen the structure.

We also studied the principles of fluid mechanics and continuously optimized the design of the waterwheel.

After three days of hard work, the waterwheel finally started running successfully.

The clear water flows down the trough into the reservoir, and finally we don’t have to go so far to fetch water.

The villagers gathered around, their eyes full of surprise.

“This thing really works!”

"Yimin, you've done a great thing for the village!"

(End of this chapter)